Job Title: Senior Rights Manager
Department: Rights, Macmillan Children’s Books
Contract: Full time, permanent
We are looking for an experienced, collaborative and commercially minded Senior Rights Manager to join our award-winning rights team. In this role, you will help grow our global revenue by managing the sale of translation and co‑edition rights across our famous children’s book lists. You will play a key role in building global fiction rights sales, as well as helping members of the team to build their professional skills and reach their sales potential.
Your team:
Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB) is one of the UK’s leading children’s publishers. We have been creating bestselling brands, children’s books and poetry for all ages for over 150 years. We are the original publisher of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Today, our list includes many globally successful and award‑winning authors and illustrators, such as Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler, Marcus Rashford, Tomi Adeyemi and Liz Pichon.
Your role:
As Senior Rights Manager, you will be the main point of contact for our fiction and non‑Fiction titles across all of our children’s lists. You will take responsibility for selling co‑editions and sub‑rights licences in assigned global territories. Reporting to the Head of Rights, you will play a crucial role in managing and supporting direct reports, contributing to the department’s financial goals and ensuring overall team success.
Your key responsibilities:
Lead assigned lists: Act as the main contact for your designated lists. You will work closely with editorial, production and the Rights Director to set budgets and plan long‑term sales growth.
Manage international sales: Grow co‑edition and sub‑rights sales in your assigned territories by building strong partnerships with international publishers, travelling for sales trips and representing the company at international book fairs.
Evaluate manuscripts: Review the commercial potential of manuscripts before we acquire them, providing estimated sales figures to help the team make informed business decisions.
Negotiate and draft contracts: Negotiate profitable contract terms to ensure good sales margins, and draft accurate legal agreements that protect our intellectual property.
Track financial performance: Monitor income and financial progress against budgets for your territories, and share regular updates on sales with senior management.
Coordinate co‑editions: Work closely with production teams to organise product specifications and printing schedules, ensuring we maximise the size and efficiency of our print runs.
Line management and team leadership: Act as a direct line manager for assigned team members. You will be responsible for their day‑to‑day guidance, setting their individual goals, and helping them maximise their performance and sales efficiency.
Essential experience, abilities, knowledge and values you’ll need to succeed:
Children’s publishing experience: Significant, proven experience selling international rights and co‑editions specifically within children’s publishing, including a strong understanding of children’s fiction and non‑fiction markets.
Line management experience: A proven track record of direct line management within a sales or publishing environment, with experience training, mentoring and developing junior colleagues to reach their commercial potential.
Commercial and legal skills: Experience reviewing complex publishing agreements and managing intellectual property contracts securely.
International outlook: A willingness to travel regularly for business and a commitment to actively promoting our children’s fiction titles to international buyers.
Managing priorities and complexities: Excellent organisational skills with a demonstrated ability to navigate shifting business needs, solve complex problems and successfully balance competing goals across the division.
Software/tools: Experience working with systems and tools such as MS Office, Google Workspace and Biblio.
Language skills: Fluency in a second language, with a preference for Italian, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
Inclusion and representation: An active dedication to promoting diverse voices and inclusive practices, taking personal responsibility for ensuring our workplace and publishing reflect the communities we serve.
Community: A collaborative approach to building a supportive and vibrant environment.
Curiosity: A strong drive for learning and a readiness to embrace different perspectives.
Integrity: A foundation of openness and honesty, taking responsibility for actions and learning from mistakes.
Desirable skills we’d love you to have:
Market experience: A proven track record of selling rights into major global markets, with a specific focus on Germany, France or the USA.
What you’ll get in return:
In return we can offer you a range of great projects, a supportive and collaborative working environment as well as a competitive salary and benefits package.
Salary: £45,000–55,000
Note on salary: The offered salary is dependent on experience and expertise. We benchmark our ranges to ensure fair, competitive compensation that grows with your impact.
Closing date: 1 July 2026
This is a full time, permanent role, and will be based in our offices in Farringdon, London, with some flexibility to work from home each week.
Some of the benefits we offer:
- 28 days’ annual leave increasing with years of service + bank holidays
- Generous pension scheme
- Discounted private medical insurance or health cash plan
- Group income protection scheme
- Enhanced family pay and leave
- Flexible working hours and summer hours (early finish on a Friday during summer months)
- 2 volunteer days per year
- 75% off all Pan Macmillan books and regular staff book sales (highly reduced rates)
- Season ticket loan/advance
- Cycle to work scheme
- Discounts on shopping and gym memberships; Christmas club savings
- Daily free breakfast and monthly company lunch
How to apply and eligibility:
- Our process: All applications must be submitted via our careers site to be considered. We are unable to accept CVs or applications sent via email.
- Our timelines: Because we review every application thoroughly and with care, our shortlisting process can take some time. We appreciate your patience and will be in touch as soon as we have an update on your application.
- Right to work: All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for this role.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion:
At Pan Macmillan, we are committed to publishing a wide range of voices that reflect the full breadth of the communities we serve. Joining us means playing an active role in bringing our titles to life as part of a team that champions inclusion at every level. We are dedicated to building a workplace that is as diverse and welcoming as the stories we tell, ensuring all perspectives are celebrated across everything we do.
We welcome applications from all individuals, including any age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio‑economic background, religion and/or belief. Our efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are ongoing, and we continually strive to learn and improve. You can read our full Diversity and Inclusion Pledge here.
Disability confident scheme:
As a Disability Confident employer, we actively encourage applications from disabled candidates and people with long‑term health conditions, aiming to offer an interview to everyone who meets the essential criteria for the role and chooses to apply under the scheme. The essential criteria can be found under our ‘Essential experience, abilities, knowledge and values you’ll need to succeed’ section.
Please note, some of our vacancies attract an exceptionally high volume of applications. In these circumstances, to ensure a fair and focussed process for everyone, we may need to limit the overall number of interviews. Where this happens, we will look closely at who most closely aligns with the requirements to select the candidates applying under this scheme who best meet the essential criteria, in line with official government guidance.
Please remember that you are never required to disclose a disability to us, and you only need to share what you feel comfortable with.
Adjustment and support:
We want to ensure that all candidates are supported throughout the recruitment process. If you have any reasonable adjustments or accessibility requirements, please contact Kayelle Danyluk (Head of Talent Acquisition) at kayelle.danyluk@macmillan.com.
Privacy notice:
All personal information which we process in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice here. Please read this notice before submitting your application.
